Today we’d like to introduce you to Cattie Khoury.
Hi Cattie, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I founded Toodaloo Superfoods during the quarantine of 2020 but the roots of Toodaloo stem from my childhood and learning how to heal myself.
Let me tell you, I LOVE food, so much so that I grew up very addicted to processed foods and was bullied for being overweight. I wasn’t the only one, my mom had diabetes and my dad had Congestive Heart Failure caused by our very western, ultra-processed and low-quality diets and lifestyles.
Adding to the dependence, my family life became as unstable as an episode of Jerry Springer so I developed some harmful coping mechanisms to manage the anxiety and depression. I have now battled with those feelings and coping strategies for over twenty years and to be honest, it’s really hard and some days, I don’t win.
But I am so thankful I was introduced to the world of healing in my teenage years because I learned tools like plant-based nutrition, movement, spending time in nature and spirituality to help me pick myself back up when I fall down and keep moving forward. And the beautiful thing is, I learned that what heals me has a ripple effect that heals my family, my friends, plants and animals around me, the entire planet and it just keeps going 💗 And the first step in my healing journey began with myself, working on what I was eating and actually experiencing what it’s like to feel good inside my own body.
But all of that went out the window during the pandemic of 2020…
I found myself resorting back to those harmful behaviors just to cope with the uncertainty of the world around me. I was emotionally eating once again and one of the things I was gorging on was trail mix. I looked on the back of the polluting packaging and realized they were filled with hydrogenated oils, highly refined sugars, artificial flavorings, chemicals, dyes and GMOs. I became angry that I was indulging on foods that have caused so much harm to not only me but my family, so many others and our planet. I was struck by this question: “What if snack foods were helpful rather than harmful?”. That question led me down a rabbit hole that is now Toodaloo.
I bought a dehydrator on Amazon and I put my degree in Environmental Sustainability from the University of Texas at Austin, certification in Plant-Based Nutrition from Cornell University and business knowledge from watching every episode of Shark Tank to use. I considered every part of the trail mix and imagined how it could be improved and I began tinkering with various foods and flavors in my kitchen.
I began applying adaptogenic herbs to dehydrated fruits and pairing them with superfoods like sprouted nuts and seeds and organic superfoods to create flavors whose themes each supported a particular healing function in the body. And to my pleasant surprise, these Vegan snacks tasted delicious all on their own, without the need for any of the harmful junk, I found in other trail mixes.
I also knew that I wanted to do much more than just create a tasty snack. I wanted to create a brand that could stand as living proof that a food business can be a force of positive change in the community. So we created a relationship with the Rodale Institute to support regenerative agriculture, which is a solution to climate change, cleans our water, cleans our air, promotes biodiversity and so much more. Through our partnership, we regenerate 100 square feet of polluted farmland with every purchase of Toodaloo snacks on our website. And we are Certified Plastic Neutral 🙂 My dream for Toodaloo is to prove that a thriving business does not have to cause the health of our planet or our people to suffer.
After growing up unhealthy in a family suffering from so many diseases, losing my dad to Congestive Heart failure due to our Western diets and witnessing the destruction to our planet by the farming industry that supports that diet, I have been come entirely fed up with our food systems and extremely motivated to be a part of the solution. I have dedicated my life to changing our food systems so that no person has to feel sick in their body or lose someone they love too soon and so that our planet can regenerate itself for generations to come.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
We have experienced challenges with supply chain constraints. In today’s market, supply chains are being tested. Some ingredients are scarce, others have decreased in quality and many have increased in price. In just one year, we have encountered all of these challenges and more. For example, the price of cashews has doubled since we launched. We have had to learn to be adaptive and flexible in today’s market.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Toodaloo is an adaptogenic trail mix brand dedicated to the healing of the mind, body, spirit and planet.
We start with delicious, plant-based ingredients—like sprouted nuts and seeds, flavorful spices, organic super fruits and infuse them with adaptogenic herbs to support your body’s natural ability to combat stress. Then we curate them into small batches of tasty artisan trail mixes that are good for us and good for the planet.
Our trail mixes have been recognized for their delicious taste in numerous magazines and won the 2022 Eat This Not That Award for “Best Healthy Snack”. But not only are our trail mixes ridiculously tasty, we are one of the first trail mix brands to explicitly support regenerative agriculture.
Toodaloo was founded on the belief that the way ingredients are grown directly affects the physical and spiritual health of our bodies and the planet. That’s why we support regenerative agriculture, a natural way of farming that produces more nutritious food while reversing climate change. In partnership with the Rodale Institute, Toodaloo converts polluted farmland to regenerative agriculture with each order of trail mix sold.
And we convey every piece of ourselves through our award-winning branding and packaging design. We have stood out on shelf and online thanks to our cosmic, whimiscal branding that transports you to the “Toodaloo” universe, where we can say Toodaloo to the harmful snacking of the past and to anything that no longer serves you and hello to a world where healing of all things is possible.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
There have been two incredible people that have brought the dream of Toodaloo to life.
Josh Bezoni. Josh Bezoni came into my life when Toodaloo existed only in my kitchen and helped mentor me in creating a business for the world. He has been my biggest cheerleader, my co-creator, my advocate and I thank him for everything he has helped me to manifest.
Philippe Chetrit. Philippe joined team Toodaloo before we even had a name but believed in the mission, our product, and our two-man team enough to join us full time. He has helped create and implement fundamental pieces of Toodaloo and turn this dream into reality. I am eternally grateful for Philippe and couldn’t have asked for a better partner on this journey.
Pricing:
- 8.99 Retail
- 9.75 Website
Contact Info:
- Website: www.toodaloo.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/toodaloosuperfoods
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/toodaloosuperfoods
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNt9HNNjke4
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@toodaloosuperfoods
Image Credits
Herefor Studio Josh Bezoni Philippe Chetrit
